Pork, veal and fennel sausage rolls

The secret to a great sausage roll is the pastry. Rough puff
works well - it has the flakiness, but isn't as fine as the many
layers of regular puff pastry. Danish butter is ideal because it
gives the most consistent result.

Method

01

For rough puff pastry, sieve flour and 1 tsp fine salt onto a work surface and cut butter into it using a pastry scraper until roughly mixed (there should still be small lumps of butter in the mixture). Make a well in the centre and pour in 100ml iced water. Use pastry scraper to just combine. Bring dough just together, wrap in plastic wrap and rest in the refrigerator until firm (20-30 minutes). Roll out dough on a lightly floured surface to form a 1.5cm-thick rectangle, about 15cm x 40cm. Fold short ends in to meet in the centre, then fold in half like a book, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate until just firm (20-30 minutes). Keeping “spine” of book to the left, repeat rolling, folding and resting twice more. You should still see a good marbling of butter in pastry. Dough should be refrigerated for at least 30 minutes before use, and will keep in the fridge for 3 days or the freezer for 3 months.

02

Preheat oven to 190C. Heat olive oil in a non-stick frying pan over medium heat, add onion and fennel seeds, and stir until onion is tender (10-15 minutes). Allow to cool, then transfer to a food processor with mince, garlic and breadcrumbs and process to combine.

03

Halve pastry, then roll half at a time (keep other half refrigerated) on a lightly floured bench into 18cm x 60cm rectangles with the longest side closest to you. Brush along the opposite edge with eggwash, then place half the mince mixture along the side closest to you in a log shape. Roll pastry over the meat and away from you to seal seam-side down and trim any excess pastry. Score top of roll, brush with eggwash, cut into 5cm or 10cm portions and place on a tray lined with baking paper. (At this point, you can freeze rolls; defrost before cooking.) Repeat with remaining pastry and filling, then bake until golden (15-20 minutes). Transfer to wire racks placed over trays and cook further until pastry is golden and crisp (15-20 minutes). Serve hot with tomato sauce.